CARY -- SciQuest, Inc., the global software leader empowering enterprises to realize the potential of strategic procurement, today unveiled a comprehensive methodology that provides leaders with a framework to build and execute a sound business plan to improve existing procurement processes, systems and protocol. This new service, the Procurement Business Assessment (PBA), enables life sciences companies to quickly uncover cost-saving opportunities in their procurement operations.

"Procurement is uniquely qualified to deliver bottom-line results, but the complexity of today's indirect supply chain prevents many companies from uncovering the most salient opportunities to drive savings," said Ken Roy, vice president of Life Sciences at SciQuest. "Merger and acquisition activity, growth into emerging markets and increased scrutiny of research and development (R&D) operations are some of the many factors converging to make procurement excellence crucial for success in the life sciences."

While the need for strategic procurement is clear at many organizations, procurement professionals often lack the resources and time to conduct the deep analysis of purchasing processes, systems and protocol needed to optimize their operations. SciQuest's PBA is a comprehensive methodology that enables organizations to measure, envision and plan the roadmap to procurement excellence.

A consultative engagement facilitated by experts in procurement and business process optimization, including Wildfire Commerce, a procurement and supply consultancy co-founded by veteran pharmaceutical industry procurement expert Gregg Brandyberry and Jason Magidson, author of Idealized Design: Creating an Organization's Future, the PBA is formulated to help procurement professionals get buy-in from executive sponsors seeking high returns on investment in a tough economy. Through the assessment, participants are able to uncover, quantify and prioritize concrete opportunities to secure process efficiencies and savings, as well as deliver a roadmap that demonstrates how tangible improvements will benefit all stakeholders in the organization.

Some of the many questions the PBA enables participants to address include:

-- Where is money being lost in existing procurement processes?

-- How can the procurement operation speed and support R&D efforts?

-- What steps should the procurement operation immediately undertake

during a major business event, such as a merger, acquisition or entry

into new markets?

-- How can procurement increase the value of existing enterprise systems

for the entire organization?

"Regardless of whether customers include our technologies in their ultimate procurement solution, analysis of the purchasing process and the systems in use is the first and most crucial step to realize the proven benefits that a strategic approach to procurement delivers," said Roy. "We then help build a vision of the best-in-class procure-to-pay workflow, developed in collaboration with the organization's subject matter experts. These assessments ultimately result in a strategic procurement roadmap, complete with a compelling business case that effectively demonstrates the procurement goals and ways to achieve them."

Widely acknowledged as a pioneer of modern strategic sourcing techniques, Brandyberry recently retired as the vice president of procurement, global systems and operations at GlaxoSmithKline, where he played a leadership role in the creation of what many consider the blueprint for an effective indirect supply chain.

"For many years I have worked with SciQuest's solutions experts in the deployment of eprocurement technology at GSK where we generated more than $50 million in savings and made it possible for researchers to enjoy much faster access to ad hoc supplies," said Brandyberry. "Together, SciQuest and Wildfire Commerce bring life sciences companies the expertise they need to not only improve existing purchasing protocol, but to develop the optimum framework to successfully realize procurement's full potential to deliver efficiencies and savings in light of current trends and conditions."

SciQuest serves 8 of the 10 largest pharmaceutical companies with its on-demand procurement and supplier integration technologies and related services, as well as numerous research-intensive organizations in the life sciences, biotechnology and healthcare sectors. Designed with solutions that reflect the needs of all users, the company's online shopping platform is also considered the standard for eprocurement technology in higher education and is increasingly used by government entities.

For more information on the Procurement Business Assessment, visit http://www.sciquest.com/pba/. SciQuest and Wildfire Commerce will also present a complimentary Webinar, "Accelerating the Approval, Funding and ROI of Your Procurement Strategy," on March 24 at 1:00 p.m. ET. To register, visit http://go.sciquest.com/content/032410_PBA.

About SciQuest

SciQuest's procurement automation and supplier enablement solutions empower leading organizations to realize the potential of strategic procurement. The company's specialized knowledge, on-demand software, and service-first approach enable public and private enterprises across the globe to manage spend, drive ROI, and advance their critical missions.

SciQuest's deep understanding of its served vertical markets combined with a broad supplier network and intuitive, online shopping experience increase user adoption and contract compliance while improving operational efficiencies. Through software-as-a-service (SaaS) deployment, organizations can quickly implement the right eprocurement solution to augment existing ERP investments or fully enable all aspects of purchasing from sourcing to settlement.

For more information about SciQuest, please visit www.sciQuest.com or call 877-710-0413 in the U.S. or +44 1794 341182 in Europe.

SciQuest is a registered trademark of SciQuest, Inc. Other trademarks contained herein remain the property of their respective owners.